BIBLIOGRAPHY
Lin, Grace. 2009. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Co. ISBN: 978-0-316-11427-1
PLOT SUMMARY
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is a story of a very poor family – Minli, her father (Ba) and her mother (Ma) - who work planting rice in the valley of Fruitless Mountain. This area is without color and everything is a drab brown. Minli loves hearing the stories her father tells her, but her mother says it is a waste of time. The stories help to relieve the boredom of the same day-to-day work. Ba tells her the story of the Old Man of the Moon, who can tell your future and might be able to change your fortune. Minli decides to go and ask the Old Man of the Moon to change her family’s fortune. The adventure begins with courage, faith and love of family. A must read. Enjoy!
CRITICAL ANALYSIS (INCLUDING CULTURAL MARKERS)
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is a wonderful story of family love and adventure that all readers will enjoy. The story has family, family problems, faith, talking goldfish, dragons, a king, a boy with a buffalo, crazy monkeys, talking rabbit, friendships made along the way, life lessons, courage, wishes granted and fortunes found – who could ask for any more in a story?
I originally listened to this book on audio CD’s read by Janet Song. She did an amazing job of making the story come alive and through the words of Grace Lin, the author, painting wonderful pictures in my mind. The cultural markers were evident in the descriptions of the clothing, food, names and homes. To be able to describe the cultural makers with clarity I also read the book. Grace Lin is a wonderful author and illustrator. The pictures of the characters definitely showed Chinese markers with black hair, round faces, almond eyes, clothing and work shoes. The clothing showed the loose pajama style working class with some of the women wearing kimonos. Hair styles showed the men with their long braid tied up in a knot on the back of their head and the mustache with the pointy, thin beard. The women’s hair also was in buns, covered under scarves while the children had the short pigtails or buns. The upper class was described with all the finery that goes with their stations, including the ornate homes and the exquisite meals truly fit for a king. Bright reds and blues were very prevalent with other colors mixed in. The folktales were interwoven with a plethora of cultural beliefs, fables, dragons, fruits (peaches especially), talking goldfishes, respect for the elders, love of family and more.
Each chapter begins with a small color illustration which gives you a clue as to what the chapter will be like. There are eighteen separate tales in this book, which are stories in themselves. One of my favorites is “The Story of The Dragon’s Pearl” pgs. 225-231. Here are some excerpts –
“Once, a dragon found a large white stone, round and softened by the ocean and wind. As he admired it, it began to shine in his hands. How pretty, he thought, I will make this into a pearl.” Pgs. 225-26 The story goes on with how the dragon worked for years to form this rock into a pearl. When it was finished it was stolen by the Queen Mother, who hid it away, but one evening at her birthday celebration she decided to be boastful and showed it off. It had a beautiful, bright shine to it and so the dragon saw the shine. He argued with the Queen Mother about ownership and she decided to run away with it and she threw it over into the Celestial River.
The dragon began to make movements to dive into the river when the Heavenly Grandfather stopped him. “Leave it there,” he said, “and shame on you both. The pearl should not belong to one being. Do you not see this is where the pearl belongs, where everyone on heaven and earth can see its beauty and enjoy it?”
Both the dragon and the Queen Mother, humbled, nodded and the guests praised the Heavenly Grandfather’s wisdom. And so did the people on earth, for now when they looked up into the sky the moon glowed down upon them. Pgs. 230-231 These extra stories are comprised of some legends and what Grace Lin, the author, wanted to add to her stories.
Grace Lin includes an author’s note at the end of the book explaining where she came up with the ideas for this book. She also discusses how being an Asian American left her unaware of some of her heritage background, even though her mother tried to incorporate it into her life. Later she went to Hong Kong, Taiwan and China to immerse herself into her family culture and heritage. Her beautiful illustrations truly add to the beauty and adventurous story of Minli and Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. This book should be introduced and encouraged by all students to read.
REVIEW EXCERPTS
From School Library Journal
Starred Review. Grade 3-6–Living in the shadow of the Fruitless Mountain, Minli and her parents spend their days working in the rice fields, barely growing enough to feed themselves. Every night, Minli's father tells her stories about the Jade Dragon that keeps the mountain bare, the greedy and mean Magistrate Tiger, and the Old Man of the Moon who holds everyone's destiny. Determined to change her family's fortune, Minli sets out to find the Old Man of the Moon, urged on by a talking goldfish who gives her clues to complete her journey. Along the way she makes new friends including a flightless dragon and an orphan and proves her resourcefulness when she tricks a group of greedy monkeys and gets help from a king. Interwoven with Minli's quest are tales told by her father and by those she meets on the way. While these tales are original to Lin, many characters, settings, and themes are taken from traditional Chinese folklore. The author's writing is elegant, and her full-color illustrations are stunning. Minli's determination to help her family, as well as the grief her parents feel at her absence, is compelling and thoroughly human.–Jennifer Rothschild, Prince George's County Memorial Library System, Oxon Hill, MD
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Booklist
*Starred Review* In this enchanted and enchanting adventure, Minli, whose name means “quick thinking,” lives with her desperately poor parents at the confluence of Fruitless Mountain and the Jade River. While her mother worries and complains about their lot, her father brightens their evenings with storytelling. One day, after a goldfish salesman promises that his wares will bring good luck, Minli spends one of her only two coins in an effort to help her family. After her mother ridicules what she believes to be a foolish purchase, Minli sets out to find the Old Man of the Moon, who, it is told, may impart the true secret to good fortune. Along the way, she finds excitement, danger, humor, magic, and wisdom, and she befriends a flightless dragon, a talking fish, and other companions and helpmates in her quest. With beautiful language, Lin creates a strong, memorable heroine and a mystical land. Stories, drawn from a rich history of Chinese folktales, weave throughout her narrative, deepening the sense of both the characters and the setting and smoothly furthering the plot. Children will embrace this accessible, timeless story about the evil of greed and the joy of gratitude. Lin’s own full-color drawings open each chapter. Grades 3-6. --Andrew Medlar --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
AWARDS/HONORS
2010 Newbery Honor
NY Times Bestseller (Feb 4th, March 14th 2010)
IndieBound Bestseller
2010 Bank Street College of Education Josette Frank Award
2010 Indies Choice Book Awards Finalist For Middle Reader Book of the Year
Al Roker's TODAY Show Kid's Book Club Pick, December 2009
2010 Mythopeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature
Starred Kirkus Review
Starred School & Library Journal Review
Starred Booklist Review
Booklist Top 10 SF/Fantasy for Youth:2009
2009 Parents' Choice Gold Winner
2010 CCBC Choices List
2010 EB White Read-Aloud Honor Book
2010 Massachusetts Book Award for Children’s/Young Adult Literature
CONNECTIONS
Check out Grace Lin's Website:
http://www.gracelin.com/
Grace Lin’s Website has all the activities available for the teacher who uses this book in their classroom. Here are some of the activities available:
ACTIVITY BOOK:
With this ACTIVITY BOOK you can:
•Make a Compass (like Minli!)
•Draw a Dragon (that could come to life)
•Determine the Age of the Dragon (using peach math)
•Map Your Own Connections (with red threads)
•Think About Your Own Answers (with a reading guide)
•Find Symbols in the Story (learn about Chinese symbolism)
•Chinese Lesson (write the Chinese characters for mountain and moon)
•Have a Feast (recipes to enjoy with the book)
Download the ACTIVITY BOOK for all of them!
There are many more activities that are available for download and printing. Please visit her site for these great activities.
Other works by Grace Lin:
The Year of the Dog ISBN: 9780316060028
Dim Sum for Everyone ISBN: 9780440417705
The Red Thread ISBN: 9780807569221
The Year of the Rat ISBN: 9780316114264
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon – Audio book - Read by Janet Song ASIN: B003RBUI42
No comments:
Post a Comment